Twitter’s EarlyBird Is Just A Start. Next: Building Deals On Real-Time Conversations

When Twitter first strolled into the world of commerce with EarlyBird. I yawned. Two-for-one tickets to the "Sorcerer's Apprentice?" Pass. A 32" Vizio HDTV from Target for $349.99? Oh boy! Except now it's on sale for $359.99, a staggering difference of $10. Exasperated sigh. That's not even enough to buy a ticket to see Nicolas Cage's latest flop at my local theater. Although the deals have improved (most notably, JetBlue's 20% discount which led to 1,000 ticket sales within the first 10 hours) I've been generally underwhelmed. However, I get the feeling that's about to change, as Twitter tinkers with its deal formula. It's unclear exactly how Twitter's commerce strategy will evolve but if product manager Shiva Rajaraman is right, EarlyBird will define a new category in social deals: offers based on real-time conversation. Rajaraman envisions a system that will track company and sector trends for advertising partners. The partners could then work with Twitter to quickly deploy deals based around trending conversations and emerging demand. As long as this doesn't spark a tsunami of Justin Bieber-related goods, I'm in. See video with Rajaraman ahead.